Trip to Helsinki: What to Wear?

Helsinki is gorgeous on a sunny day! Too bad we’ll only have rain.

Dave and I both really like Helsinki, so we decided to have a nice little four day city break there this weekend. Yes, we did stay home for the three day bank holiday weekend, which seems to make no sense, but Dave couldn’t get away from work until late this week. In any case, it is a shame we weren’t there for the bank holiday because they were having gorgeous clear, sunny skies with weirdly (for them) high temperatures in the 25 C /77 F range. But sadly, our travel luck just isn’t that good, so it will probably be raining for much of the weekend that we will be there and the temperatures look to not even be out of the teens – 13 – 18 C /55 – 65 F – for highs and more like 8 C/46 F for lows. So, now I’m stuck with the dilemma of what to wear for the soggy, cold weekend. Though of course, I am always hopeful that the weather forecast will change by then.

I am a big, huge fan of packing light and with items that can be worn in different ways so that I don’t end up dragging a bunch of luggage with me, this is especially true for a short trip. Luckily, we travel enough that I have this down at this point. And, I’ve got a great carry on sized suitcase that allows me to pack a lot of stuff in not too much space. But for a short trip like this, we might only take one bag and split the space (I know, shocking). I must admit, I am much better about having outfits all ready to go for winter trips, somehow summer trips are always more difficult for me to style. With the temperatures being so completely not warm this weekend in Helsinki, I will most definitely go with the casual jeans look and my Converse All Stars since sandals are definitely out. For short trips like this I also pick a colour scheme to work around to make sure that all of my items are interchangeable for the best set of options: red, white, blue/denim, and black for this trip, I think.

Lyssé Knitted Ankle Leggings in Denim

On the plane, I always try to wear something comfortable like leggings or a knit dress. It might not be super fashionable, but it is comfortable when I’m going to be sitting around for a few hours; 3 hours of flight time from London to Helsinki. I haven’t found a great summer type knit dress for flying but I do have a pair of denim-look leggings, or jeggings, that I like for summer trips, plus they work well with my chosen colour scheme this time. And let’s face it, skinny jeans aren’t super comfortable on a flight, so this is a good comfortable compromise. I have a number of white shirts that I like to pair with my leggings, but my favourite is probably a very lightweight cotton tunic with buttons down the front and a bit of detail around the neckline, under which I wear a tank (necessary since you can totally see through the tunic). I am always getting cold on flights, so I have some waterfall cardigans that I like to wear with my leggings to keep me comfortable and warm. The two that I have, one in red and one in purple, are made from a t-shirt type material which makes them great for travel because they don’t get really wrinkled looking and are easy to pack or carry around if I get warm. I’ve also found that if I want a slightly different look from them, I can wear them with a belt and they look more like a blouse with a drape neckline. On the way back, I will switch out the white tunic with a casual white silk shirt that I have that works perfectly with the rest of the pieces. So that takes care of the two days when I’ll be actually flying.

Pepperberry: The Classic Shirt, perfect for travel

On the other days I will probably wear jeans, either bootcut or skinnies depending on my mood when packing or maybe both if I have room. I might take the slim leg jeans because I’ve been wearing them a lot lately and they are actually pretty comfortable and look cute with with All Stars or my ballet flats. I will definitely be taking my Pepperberry Classic Shirt in white because it always looks so tailored, yet is really comfortable. Plus, it goes well with or without the waterfall cardigan, as dictated by the weather. Also, a plain white shirt can so easily be jazzed up with good accessories, like a fun scarf, a big necklace, or even a really cool belt. I will probably also take a black cashmere v-neck sweater that I almost always take along with me when we travel. It goes with everything and cashmere packs well and can be very warm too; it’s the perfect travel companion. For my other daytime look I think I’ll take a heather grey top that I have that is great for transitional weather. It is long, hitting me around the mid- to top of my thighs depending on how I play with the ruching, plus it has a draped neckline that is both comfortable and flattering. I like it because it is made of a soft, cotton that is like a sort of thick t-shirt material, so it is super easy to pack, but has some style about it while still being very comfortable.

Red trench or black jacket with hood?

We haven’t decided if we’ll be doing anything special for dinner any of the nights we are gone, so I’m kind of skipping that part of my packing. However, if we make that decision to have a nice dinner out or something, I’ve got a wrap-style dress from Pepperberry (like that link, except with longer sleeves so it is less daytime) that I would probably take because I know it packs quite well and looks very flattering. Of course, if we do that then I have to bring other shoes and Dave will have to pack more stuff too and that wasn’t really the type of trip we were planning. So, we will probably just stick with the very casual style trip. Dave is definitely in need of a trip where he can just totally take some time off and relax, so for us that means easy packing and no pressure to find someplace spectacular to have dinner. Those types of things are for other trips, not a quick and fun city break like this one.

Obviously, I’m going to need a coat or jacket that can take the rain for this trip as well. I’m trying to decide between taking my red trench coat or my black lightweight rain jacket. I love my red one because it is good in cold, rainy weather, however, it doesn’t have a hood if you’re caught without an umbrella. The black one is cute and has a bit of a trench coat style but only comes to my hips and it is rather thin making it less great when it is cold, but it does have the helpful hood. The other good thing about the black jacket is that it can pack up to almost nothing, which is probably why I will take it. Since it is black, which can be very bland and boring, I often pick a fun scarf to wear with it to give it a bit of colour, I have a paisley black, white, and red silk scarf that I will probably take since I know it will go with everything else that I am bringing.

Phew, so now I’m all done figuring out what to wear and am ready to go on my trip and relax. Well, except for the actual packing.